The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1887-01-11
HELEN FRY
Differs With "Mrs. Dolly" and
Thinks Men Shouldn't be
Petted.

months in which | have read Mrs.
DolIy's letters to the BAzoo, L have
gradually lie earned to regard her more
highly and warmly and now, | wish
had personal knowledge of her,
especially as | am about to dis gree
slightly with her, and think if knew
her, she would understand better why
| do so than / can explain by letter.
| don't want to give offense, especially
after her recent defense of me, Meth
er do mean to criticize her manage
ment of "Will" for truly l think
Judging from her description of him
that verify be must be one of the few
men who have survived the fall, that
love cannot fail; but just as firmly
believe that the great majority OF
men can no more remain pure, good
husbands, if indeed they ever were
such, under the full tide of petting,
fiattering and being "made king Ut.
as Dolly terms it, than a dyspeptic
can enjoy a comfortable digestion af
ter a surfeit of baked beans. There
fore | beg Mrs. Dolly to. remember
that am not aiming to correct her
in any respect, but rather to
POINT OUT A REMEDY,
as it looks to me, for the evil
results of the indiscriminate
practice of making a man think he is
king, which | think is dangerous in
the extreme, without proceeding fur
ther along the same line in their own
behalf. Men entertain a far too
"kingly" notion of themselves now,
without aid from us In that direction.
One phase of life that strikes me as
being very, very peculiar, is the state
of chronic decay that seems to charac.
terize the bonds that are supposed to
fasten husband to his wife, mind !
say the husband to the wife, not the
wife to the husband. Before marriage
should a lady, no matter how worthy
her regard for gentleman may be,
dare signify in any manner her pref
erence for him, what do we see? She
is unfeminine, she has stepped outside
the bounds of womanhood, and Miss
society at once shows her disapprovaI
by setting her huge foot down upon
and turning her bread back squarely
against all such misde neanOrs. Be
fore marriage he will commit suicide
# she will not consent to save {? him.
Afterward, if the criminal court
records are to be relied ON it stands he
in good stead, in many cases, to keeI
sharp lookout that he does not hell
her out of the world and his way by
resorting 10 the bludgeon, the sho'
gun, dose of poison, or some Other
loving means to prove his great ne.
cessity for her. After being sought
thus vehemently, how does it follow
that the wife, after marriage, must
spend her life in the constant effort
to keep him? For my part, cOnfes'
it is mystery to me, but this much
L know, if l had CIVIL" l should
consider it but just and right, anC
moreover it should be a part of tn,
contract, that unless was queen, and
treated as such, he should not b,
king and as such worshipped by me
he would learn that | could slip away
; from him quite as easily as he could
from me, and besides he should b,
made to realize and know that if he
could buy kisses and caresses
COULD GET THEM TOO,
and much easier. for they stand oil
every street corner, and of every i'm
aginable grade from homespun Il
broadcloth, waiting only to be &C
cepted. am aware that against thi
doctrine many dissenting voices vii
be raised and that the meaning o.
them all will be that when a woman
falls she dies, but this is simply tn,
voice of that same hypOcrite society
in whose organization justice anC
right form a very small part
Deep down in the heart of every man
a voice whispers, that in the sight OF
holy and eternal truth, truly she falls
but she falls no lower than he does
broken vows are broken vows, no mat
ter who breaks them, and in my
humble opinion. the first to breas
them is far the most, if there b
aught in mans. boosted claim of guar
dian and protector of the weaker sex
and that it was for this very purpos,
that the creator designed his superio
strength and wisdom. Why not SHOW
it, in at least setting us a bright ex
ample, and in bearing with OH
weaknesses, instead of throwing the
responsibility of all their shortcoming.
on us?
In all this 1 beg my meaning vii
not be misinterpreted. In the home